Thankyou...I clicked anyway, if you look at the video there is one more photo which is taken afterwards and she does not look too horribly injured, though clearly she did not survive - in the first two images it looks like she was vaporised or something.

I know, I thought that. Can that happen? People usually "just" get burned don't they? I remember years ago hearing about a farmer in the Derbyshire Dales who was struck, and his rubber wellies saved him. He was knocked out, and all his clothes burned off, but alive. There was a picture of him in the local paper holding the remains of his boots.

It's a funny thing, lightning. You hear of people surviving a strike, but of their minds being altered, personalities changing and so on.

I suspect it probably gave her a heart attack (though speculating isnt nice). It disrupts the nerves I think <vague> I dont know why they carried her off like that. Poor lady and really horrific for those there.

I used to be a bit, meh about lightning until I saw a very well made documentary about it and I am now shit scared of it. One woman was struck in her lounge! Mum said the house got hit when I was a baby and it blew all the plugs out of the sockets in the entire house! The docu said to be afraid and if you can see it or hear it, you are at risk from it. I have never forgotten that.

I think it is wise to treat lightning and storms in general with respect!

Half the reported cases do happen indoors, from contact with phones and other electrical equipment and also plumbing, but they do tend to be of a much more minor nature and seem to leave people with temporary mild burns or tingling or numbness (so I suspect the figures might be under reported)

When you get struck by lightening, it's like those defibrillators they use on people in cardiac arrest - it sends an enormous bolt of electricity through your body. So if you're wearing rubber boots, you're protected because the lightening will try and pass through you to the ground. You can be struck and not killed, just burned. It depends on the trajectory it takes through your body.

We found ourselves out sailing under a ten metre mast miles from land during a lightning storm once. Nothing like that to set your nerves on edge. You have to trail metal in the water to earth the boat and make a Faraday cage.

I was cacking my pants. Every fork looked five metres away, though in reality the closest was probably half a mile or so.

I think that weather in general should be treated with respect, it's when people don't that they run into problems. I think we've got used to life generally being very safe so forget that the elements are not under our control. Doesn't mean we have to be scared of it, just be aware of the possible dangers.